It felt like she'd swallowed a hot coal and it was burning her from the inside out. She clutched at her stomach and screamed. The last time her abdomen had hurt this badly she'd been impaled by lindworm claws, though that had made her feel more like she'd been drowning, since her lungs had been punctured too. This new pain had started off like a bad period cramp and now she was consumed by it, barely able to process what was being said around her. She did pick up on some of the healers' back and forth, but she couldn't make much sense of what she heard.
"Get her on the Soul Forge. We must find out what is causing this!"
"Is the Allfather on his way? Perhaps he can use the power of Gungnir-"
"It won't work, remember? He's used it once on her already and he said that it can only heal a person once."
"Damn."
Maisy pressed her hands to her stomach and wondered if her babies were okay. Probably not. Which made her want to scream some more. She hoped Loki would get there soon. Even if he was disguised as Odin, she wanted to know he was near. She felt safe around him and with everything happening with her body at the moment, she could use a little reassurance.
As if summoned by her thoughts, he burst into the healers' station and immediately began yelling at people, demanding to know what was going on. A thought briefly crossed Maisy's mind and she wondered if the healers were confused about why Odin was acting so protective all of a sudden. They might get suspicious. But then another wave of pain hit her and she couldn't think of anything else.
"What is wrong? Is it the poison?"
"We removed all of the rat poison from her system, Allfather, but something else is harming her. We are attempting to find out what it is."
They put her on a thing called the Soul Forge and orange lights floated above her. She would have thought they were pretty if she hadn't been so busy groaning and hissing. Loki, still disguised, discreetly took her hand and squeezed it. Even if it didn't alleviate any of the stinging and burning, it still helped.
"Ah," the head healer said, looking at the orange lights, "Ah, there is our problem."
"What is it?"
"A magical energy," the healer pointed to one spot that glowed brighter than the others, "Heading for the womb, intent on destroying both mother and children."
"What can we do to stop it?!"
"Do not worry, my king," the healer put her hand on Maisy's forehead, "Whoever constructed this spell for Lady Fulla was an amateur. It will be simple to undo it, but we must act quickly."
She left Maisy's side and began working on a potion. Knowing that she wasn't going to die, even if she was still in extreme pain, Maisy felt a little more light hearted about the situation.
"And here I thought we'd gotten rid of all the people who want to kill me," she wheezed.
"I fear there will be more," Loki sighed, whispering back to her, "Perhaps we should fake your death and give you a new identity as well, hmm?"
"Like - gah!" she winced, "Like what?"
"Perhaps Odin's mistress."
"I feel sick enough as it is, don't make me barf all over you."
He smirked slightly and Maisy wished that she could see his real face behind the wrinkled facade. It was hard to have a nice moment with someone who looked like her ancient father-in-law.
"Here we are," the healer came back and shoved a bottle of blue liquid at Maisy. She didn't even give her a chance to open her mouth on her own, forcing the stuff down her throat. It tasted like blueberries, surprisingly, and after ten minutes it started to work.
"That is exactly what we want to see," the healer pointed to the Soul Forge and Maisy was well enough at this point to admire the glowing lights above her. They watched as the brighter parts began to fade into nothingness. Everyone seemed to be breathing easier and Loki loosened his grip on her hand.
"You see? There is nothing to worry about!"
"Wonderful," Loki straightened up into a more Odin-like pose and nodded to the healer, "The amount of times you have saved lives is countless. You are truly a hero."
"Don't thank her yet!" A young healer boy pointed back at the Soul Forge, "Look!"
One bright spark erupted across the illusion and Maisy cried out, feeling the stinging under her skin and especially on her abdomen. The head healer frantically turned back to the potions table as Loki muttered a healing spell under his breath. His spell did little to help, but the healer was back with another potion - red this time - and forced it down Maisy's throat.
The pain subsided and on the Soul Forge's display, where the fetuses of the twins could be seen, the light began to fade.
"What happened?" Maisy asked.
"Part of whatever spell had been laid on you hid from me. It was targeted specifically to the babies," the healer shook her head, "What a vile curse!"
"What's happening now?" Loki pointed at the Soul Forge and they could see that the light was not completely gone. It was centering around one of the little, somewhat blobby looking, babies, aiming for the heart. Maisy gasped in alarm.
"No! What's it doing?!"
"I am unsure, princess," the healer could not stop watching, "It… may be destroying one of the babies. We have weakened the curse, but it still has some power to it."
"How can we make it stop doing that?!"
"I do not know!"
"You'd best find out!" Loki bellowed.
The fetus that was not under attack from the spell suddenly wriggled. Maisy didn't know much about pregnancies or the development of babies in the womb, but she was pretty sure that two month old fetuses were not supposed to move like that. The baby seemed to grab at the light that attacked its twin and held onto the power.
"What's going on? What's happening?" Maisy asked frantically, snatching the healer's hand.
"I've never seen anything like it," the head healer muttered, "This twin seems to be attempting to save the other twin… by sacrificing itself."
"What in all the nine realms?" Loki was squeezing Maisy's hand again and he kept glancing at her stomach. Maisy felt almost completely fine, if a little queasy. She would have never guessed that there was a silent battle going on inside her.
There seemed to be nothing they could do except watch the Soul Forge as the second twin held onto the light until it faded completely. The first twin - the one that had been under attack first - seemed completely fine. The one that had taken the attack stopped moving after the light went away and Maisy covered her mouth to stifle a wail of distress.
"Wait! The baby still lives!" The healer exclaimed, "We have heart beats for both of them! They are both alive!"
Maisy couldn't help crying in relief. She couldn't process what was going on around her, but once the healers cleared everything up and assured her that she was completely fine and there was nothing else wrong with her or the babies she heard Loki, as Odin, order everyone to leave the healing station. They did and as soon as the door closed behind them he shed his disguise and pulled her into a fierce hug. She sobbed into his chest for a good half an hour before she could speak again.
"I thought we were going to lose them! I thought we'd lose our babies!"
"I know, darling, I know," he stroked her hair, "But they are both safe and you are safe as well. Everyone is safe, except Fulla, who will die a long painful death in the morning."
"Oh don't draw it out! That would be so mean of you," Maisy sniffled, snot seeping onto Loki's shirt, "Can't you make it quick?"
Loki decided it was best not to mention the fact that the woman was being tortured by a giant snake as they spoke. He supposed he should call off the torture now that Maisy was out of danger, but he decided he'd rather sit with his wife for a while longer. And… maybe spend the night with her and allow Fulla to spend the night with the snake. Cruel, perhaps, but justified in Loki's mind. As long as Maisy didn't find out about it.
"She didn't succeed," Maisy kept on sniffling, a few fresh tears falling, "That's the important thing. You can just get it over with quickly and that will be much better, right?"
Loki sighed and remembered the conversation they'd had after she found out he killed Egil. He supposed he must do more than make promises if he actually wanted to change. So, he did as Maisy recommended and tried to think of any family Fulla might have and what they would think of his actions toward the old hag. Her sister, the orphanage keeper, would probably be appalled.
"One moment," he told Maisy, donning his disguise once more and opening the door. He found a guard and instructed him to tell the dungeon master to stop torturing Fulla and lock her in a cell instead. Then he returned to Maisy.
"Loki, can we go back to our room? I'm exhausted."
"I shall speak with the healers, but I suspect they will want to keep an eye on you overnight. And I would prefer that as well."
"Can you… is there anyway… will you stay with me?"
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at her.
"I will think of something. I won't leave you alone."
"Thank you."
"My pleasure, my lady."
A note from the author: I'M SORRY OKAY. The Plot is a vicious beast that sometimes gets off its leash and it decided to throw in some drama. Totally wasn't me being an evil author... ;)
But! I promise that is that very last of the drama and angst for our couple! After all, there are only two chapters left to post after this. Which is mind boggling to me because I never finish anything and now I've practically finished two giant stories for Maisy and Loki (and Linn and Bjorn too, of course). I probably should have given you guys more warning that we are nearly at the end, but it snuck up on me too. I was looking through the chapters that I have to post and I was shocked that I was at the bottom of my Google Doc already. It's crazy!
Anywho, thank you for reading this chapter and for following/favoriting!
Special thanks to my reviewers:
Ninja Squirrel: Loki is such a crazy character, like not just in Marvel, but in the myths and any books/movies/stories he shows up in. It's what makes him so much fun. You can always count on him to do the absolute most inconvenient thing for everyone—including himself. XD Oh! This is kind of unrelated, but my brother got a video game console of some sort (I'm not much of a gamer myself) and our parents got him a LEGO Avengers game and he lets me play it with him since I love Marvel and LEGO so much. I haven't tried making custom characters yet, but I'm totally going to try making Linn because I think that would be a blast. If I make her then maybe I'll post a picture on my Deviantart account lol. Sorry, that was unrelated, but I was excited and I wanted to tell you. :)
QueenBookDragon: Don't worry! She's fine! I'm not going to kill her off any time soon... probably. Mwahahaha! No, I'm not going to do that, I swear. I read a fic one time where the OC love interest got killed off and it scarred me so I will not kill off Maisy. Or Linn because then I feel like there would be people with pitchforks knocking down my door. And also, that's kind of like killing a puppy and I'm not THAT evil.
Dragoncat: I'm glad you liked the twist! I love working Norse myths into this story so much so it makes me happy when you guys enjoy it. :D
You guys are seriously the bestest ever and I love y'all. :) Until next time!